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Eating Certain Nuts may Fight Cancer

Nuts as a whole offer a good source of essential fatty acids, protein and fiber as well as vitamins and minerals. Unless allergies are a concern, they are always a component of my dietary recommendations.

Nature has provided nuts, as well as seeds and legumes, with defense mechanisms intended to allow them to grow until maturity. Enzyme inhibitors and phytic acids are 2 such mechanisms that can strain digestion and cause malabsorption of nutrients. Soaking nuts, as well as seeds and legumes allows for the breakdown of the phytic acids as well as encouraging the production of beneficial enzymes thus rendering them much more bioavailable to us.

The process is an easy one. Cover nuts with good quality water and let sit, covered for 12-24 hours. After elapsed time, rinse nuts well and they are ready to be consumed or used in recipes. You can also dehydrate them to remove the added moisture.

As a disease targeting food, specific types of nuts appear to offer nutrient profiles more beneficial for impeding cancer growth than their common counterparts. In the video  that I have posted here, courtesy of NutritionFacts.org, Michael McGregor M.D. (@nutrition_facts) provides research that indicates that the stars in the nut family for fighting cancer are walnuts and pecans.

#nuts #cancer #nutrition

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It’s that Chestnut time of year!

Ah the smell of roasted chestnuts! It’s a tradition that awakens the Christmas senses. Chestnuts are not like most of their tree nut counterparts. Most nuts are low in carbohydrates and higher in protein and fats. These little morsel packets however are higher in complex carbohydrates then their tree nut relatives. They contain approximately 45 grams per 3-ounce serving, which equates to about 3 chestnuts.

Chestnuts contain both soluble and insoluble fiber making them a nice addition for gut health. They contain the minerals manganese, potassium, copper, phosphorus, magnesium and iron. Looking at their vitamin content, it’s mainly vitamin C, but they also contain vitamin B6, thiamin, folate, and riboflavin.

The process of roasting the chestnut is to release the sugar content thereby sweetening its flavour.

Roasted Chestnuts

  • Preheat your oven to 425F/220C.
  • Start by wiping the chestnuts off with a damp towel. Then on a cutting board, with the flat side of the nut down, cut an X in to the chestnut. This will allow the steam to escape.
  • Place the cut chestnuts in the oven on a baking tray and allow to cook for approximately 30 minutes.
  • You will be able to tell that they are done when the shell pops open and the chestnut is a nice golden brown colour.

Put a bowlful in the middle of your table allowing everyone to smack and peel their own. It’s a big part of the pleasure of eating them!

 

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Let it Flow

For me music has the power to tap in to my emotional being.  As I sit here listening to Wiz Khalifa, I can almost feel the loss of a man I knew only from a screen.  Some music inspires me and other pieces are my melancholy friends. Music can pull me out of a mood or join me in one. If you have ever tapped your toe to a beat, shed a tear over a lyric or sang along in the car on a top down kind of day you’ve felt its power too.  For me it is a wonderful vehicle to tap in to that part of myself that I often do not have the time or energy for.  My emotions.

As time passes we have the opportunity for wisdom.  One of the pearls that I have learned is the value of allowing myself to feel my emotions; happy, sad or otherwise because they are neither right nor wrong.  They just are.  They are meant to come in, to be felt and then let go leaving behind a lesson, a heightened memory or nothing at all.  But whatever their purpose at any given time, our emotions are a reflection of our most intimate self.  They are a unique interplay of many things including our experiences, environments and our perceptions thereof.  They are what makes us human and connected.

We often work very hard keeping our emotions in check and perhaps rightly so.  But every now and again when an emotion is evoked allow Pandora’s box to open and revisit that moment, time and place.  Cry, punch a pillow or belt out a song.  And allow yourself the opportunity to feel and to be vulnerable.  Because this is a part of who you are and the story you tell every day of your life.

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Lesson Learned

I just posted an article to my Facebook and Twitter called “When Pain Persists After Breast Cancer Surgery” written by Leslie Garisto Pfaff. I literally read the article and thought ‘By God I am not losing it!’

Without going in to detail the article is about persistent pain following breast cancer surgery. A strong causal theory is damage to the intercostobrachial nerve. The subject matter is extremely interesting and I encourage you to read it but it’s not what provoked me to post this.

After reading this article I felt rather stupid. Although I don’t suffer with pain since my surgery, I always have a tenderness running down my side. But in light of the bigger picture I felt this was a somewhat trivial thing and didn’t bring it up to any of my doctors. But here is the question: WHY NOT?! Getting that explanation 4 years ago would have greatly set my mind at ease and gone a long way to explaining other minor things that I have experienced.

Being hit between the eyes with this just brought home to me something I so easily ascribe to others. Personal advocacy is key to healing. Our health is our own responsibility.  Yes we have a team to guide us along the way but we drive the ship.

So sadly I learned today that I am victim of the old adage ‘Do as I say and not as I do’. But I am coming clean with the hope that a short article has led me to a greater lesson.

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Welcome

Welcome and thank you for visiting my blog.  This is a space created to share with you my personal reflections, random tidbits and information on things that I hope will help you achieve your best health.

Our health is a precious and precarious gift and often times our interest in it is a knee jerk reaction to a health challenge.   Such was my case.  I ate well.  I exercised regularly.  And I was happy.  Things were going just fine until one day I found a small lump that forever has changed my outlook on health and how to achieve it.  I took a deep dive in to Holistic Nutrition and decided along the way to become a Cancer Coach.

There are many paths that can lead us to our destination and I hope that within these posts you find something that makes sense of the road you are on.

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